FIFTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VI. 569 



wife has at command should largely determine the amount and style of 

 furnishings. This does not mean that a pretty statue or excellent bust is 

 not to be seen in our homes, but an accumulation of furnishings which over- 

 taxes the strength of the household help to keep freed from dust or acts as a 

 harbor for germ-laden dust is a menance to the health and comfort of the 

 family. 



The question of sanitation is one which seriously afifects the interests of 

 the entire family and for this reason every housekeeper should avail herself 

 of every opportunity to increase her knowledge of conditions which tend to 

 make her home more healthful. A knowledge of sanitary laws should be 

 an essential part of every woman's education. Books on " Sanitation in the 

 Home " may be secured so cheaply and in so concise and practical a form 

 that a knowledge of the rudiments of a healthful home is within the reach 

 of every housekeeper. A few moments each week devoted to its careful 

 perusal will store one's mind with a vast amount of useful knowledge. 



As ' ' eternal vigilance is the price of liberty," so eternal vigilance is the 

 price the housewife must pay for a healthful and sanitary home. Cleanliness 

 and pure air to a large degree will insure a state of security to the inmates 

 of the home. The first essential toward a healthful home is the maintenance 

 of pure air. During the summer, when doors and windows are open 

 throughout the house, the problem is reduced to the minimum, but when at 

 the first approach of winter, we cork our windows and close every crack and 

 crevice about the hous«, the question of ventilation assumes proportions. 



At this season of the year the cellar becomes of prime importance, for 

 upon its condition will depend largely the health of the family. The ideal 

 cellar or basement is one which is not made a receptacle for vegetables, some 

 of which are in various stages of decay. But, as few of us are so fortunate 

 as to have a separate root cellar, which, by the way, is better for the veget- 

 ables as well as the family, the question of giving the cellar the needed 

 amount of ventilation and sunshine, and, at the same time protecting the 

 vegetables from Jack Frost, becomes a serious problem and usually proves 

 so baffling that we are apt to see that nothing in the cellar is frost nipped and 

 run the risk of the impure air which fills our rooms, yet wonder why we 

 suflEer with headache, languor and biliousness, if we escape the more serious 

 results. 



Then we keep our living rooms heated at various stages from 60^" to 90% 

 too rarely opening doors and windows, the only means of ventilation the 

 average house contains, and continue to wonder at our languor and head- 

 aches; then we go to our sleeping rooms which too often have not had a 

 change of air during the twenty-four hours, we tightly close all windows, 

 most of them having solid double sashes, and wonder why we arise in the 

 morning feeling so depressed. Fortunately, the husband during the day at 

 his outdoor work, has his lungs purified and the children in their walk back 

 and forth to school have a breath of fresh air, but the housewife breathes 

 the poisonous air day after day and comes out in the spring all run down 

 and can not see why she should. 



The ideal floor from a sanitary standpoint is the hard polished or painted 

 floor, covered with rugs which can be frequently removed and aired and 

 dusted. To those who have tried this method of floor treatments, house- 

 cleaning ceases to be a bugbear. 



